Ticks

The Monroe County Health Department Environmental Health Division assists individuals that are concerned about the ticks that were found on them, a family member or the family pet. While the staff at Monroe County Health Department are able to reasonably ascertain the name of the tick by comparing the tick to photos of known species, testing is not available onsite. When sampling for disease is a concern, the staff at Monroe County Health Department will mail the tick into the lab at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. If the tick arrives alive and was taken from a human, the lab can test it for Lyme disease. If the tick was removed from a host other than a human, the lab will identify the tick for a fee of $10.00 and screen the tick for Lyme disease (if alive) for a fee of $40.00. If the tick arrives dead, which quite often happens, the lab can only confirm the identity of the tick.

Disease from ticks is preventable. Following precautions when outside, especially in overgrown or wooded areas, you can minimize your risk of developing a disease. The most common ways to prevent disease include: wearing light clothes so you can see if a tick is on you and remove it before it embeds itself, using DEET or other tick repellent, checking your whole body, especially areas with hair such as the groin, head, sock line, under arms after being in an area that may contain ticks (if a tick is found, remove it by pulling it straight out with fine tweezers grabbing the tick at the skin surface), and tucking your pants into your socks and sealing off any other openings on your clothing such as sleeves and neckline.